Theodore Spencer
Theodore Spencer (1902-1949) was an American poet and academic. Life Spencer graduated from Princeton University in 1923, spent a year at the University of Cambridge, and earned a Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1928.Mark F. Bernstein, "Life in the literary fast lane," Princeton Alumni Weekly, June 11, 2008. Web, Dec. 30, 2018. Spencer had been appointed an instructor in English at Harvard before completing his Ph.D. He became an assistant professor there in 1936, but in 1939 was told he would not be rehired, apparently for budgetary reasons. Spencer then was hired as a lecturer in English literature at Cambridge, the 1st American to be so honored. However, with the outbreak of World War II, Spencer's Cambridge appointment never materialized, and he continued to teach at Harvard — initially as a visiting professor, and later as a permanent faculty member. In 1942, Spencer gave the Lowell lectures on Shakespeare, published as Shakespeare and the Nature of Man, his most important work.Shakespeare and the Nature of Man: Lowell lectures, 1942," Google Books, Web, Dec. 30, 2018. Spencer also published essays, short stories, and poetry. He knwed many of the prominent literary figures of the time, including Vladimir Nabokov, Conrad Aiken, Robert Sherwood, Archibald MacLeish, and Dorothy Thompson. Recognition W.H. Auden included his poetry in the Faber Book of Modern American Verse in 1956. *Golden Rose Award Publications Poetry *''The Paradox in the Circle''. Norfolk, CT: New Directions, 1941. *''An Act of Life''. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1944. *''Poems, 1940-1947'' Cambridge, MA; Harvard University Press, 1948. *''An Acre in the Seed''. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1949. Non-fiction *''Death and Elizabethan Tragedy: A study of convention and opinion in the Elizabethan drama''. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1936. *''Studies in Metaphysical Poetry: Two essays and a bibliography'' (with Mark Van Doren). New York: Columbia University Press, 1939. *''Shakespeare and the Nature of Man: Lowell lectures, 1942''. New York: Macmillan, 1949. *''Selected Essays'' (edited by Alan C. Purves). New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1966. Edited *''A Garland for John Donne, 1631-1931''. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1931. *James Joyce, Stephen Hero: Part of the first draft of 'A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man'. Norfolk, CT: New Directions, 1944; London: Cape, 1944. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Theodore Spencer, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Mar. 2, 2015. Audio / video *''Theodore Spencer: Reading his own poems'' (78). Washington, DC: Library of Congress Recording Laboratory, 1949. ** also released on Theodore Spencer: Reading his own poems / Richard Eberhart: Reading his own poems (LP). Cambridge, MA: Harvard Vocarium Records, 1941. See also *List of U.S. poets References Fonds His notebook is at Princeton University,http://diglib.princeton.edu/ead/getEad?id=ark:/88435/kk91fk58h and papers are at Harvard University.http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/~hou00832 Notes External links ;Poems *"The Day" *"Escapist's Song" * "The Californians" * Theodore Spencer at AllPoetry (3 poems) ;Books *Theodore Spencer at Amazon.com ;About *Theodore Spencer at Princeton Alumni Weekly Category:1902 births Category:1949 deaths Category:American poets Category:Princeton University alumni Category:Harvard University alumni Category:Harvard University faculty Category:20th-century poets Category:English-language poets Category:Poets Category:American academics